Marine

Watch: Twin-hull hydrofoiling catamaran smashes big-wave storm tests

View 18 Images
The 66-ft, 40,000-kg T-2000 catamaran crashes through rough sea testing in style
Safehaven Marine
The 66-ft, 40,000-kg T-2000 catamaran crashes through rough sea testing in style
Safehaven Marine
Another Voyager throwing an extravagant boat wheelie
Safehaven Marine
We imagine these shots end up framed in owners' boardrooms
Safehaven Marine
...Nope
Safehaven Marine
Head on: it's the only way
Safehaven Marine
Well, at least it's getting a wash
Safehaven Marine
This one reminds me of Kramer's hair
Safehaven Marine
The engineering here is extremely impressive
Safehaven Marine
The sea was angry that day my friends...
Safehaven Marine
At this stage, they're just showing off
Safehaven Marine
I can feel this photo in my stomach
Safehaven Marine
Spare a thought for the photographer here...
Safehaven Marine
Kowalski recommends slowing bigger boats to a halt facing directly into the wave before going over a real monster, then giving a small burst of power as it hits. "If it looks like a ramp, it is a ramp."
Safehaven Marine
Onboard GoPro: terrifying
Safehaven Marine
Imagine that coming at you
Safehaven Marine
Cork Harbour: beautiful but treacherous
Safehaven Marine
I'm led to believe there's a boat in here
Safehaven Marine
With people on board, this 66-footer starts looking its size
Safehaven Marine
View gallery - 18 images

Ireland's Safehaven Marine builds search and rescue craft, patrol boats and pilot boats designed to operate in "all weather" – up to and including Force 10 storms with waves up to 23 ft (7 m) high. The firm backs this up with some spectacular testing.

The company sees rough sea testing as a critical pre-delivery step, and often takes customers along for the ride; "it's better," writes Managing Director Frank Kowalski, "if crews don't have to face these kinds of conditions for the first time alone" – and throwing these huge machines into seriously dangerous waves is the only real way to provoke the kinds of failures and leaks they're checking for in the pre-delivery stage.

So, out they head into the treacherous entrance to Cork Harbour – the world's second-largest natural harbor behind Sydney, and incidentally, the last stop before the big one for one RMS Titanic back in 1912. The entrance, writes Kowalski, "can produce some pretty extreme sea states during the winter storm months," while being conveniently close to Safehaven HQ.

"Over the past 20 years," writes Kowalski, "I've probably been out 100 times in weather conditions of Force 9 and above and waves over 5 m (16 ft), so have a pretty good understanding of, and respect for, the sea state and conditions that can exist at the entrance to the Harbour, and of course the limits of my designs."

Safehaven often takes out a second all-weather boat for these tests, to operate both as a safety boat and as a camera boat – and in recent years it's started taking drones out to capture the tests from above. "Good equipment is key," writes Kowalski, "although the attrition rate can be high and we lose at least one camera a year."

The red twin-hull catamaran in the images and video above is Safehaven's new T-2000 Voyager, a 20-m (66-ft), long-range, high-performance, semi-wave piercing explorer boat capable of speeds over 50 knots (58 mph, 93 km/h).

Kowalski recommends slowing bigger boats to a halt facing directly into the wave before going over a real monster, then giving a small burst of power as it hits. "If it looks like a ramp, it is a ramp."
Safehaven Marine

A hydrofoil can be optioned, which lifts much of the hull out of the water, boosting fuel economy by around 25%, increasing range to 1,000 nautical miles (1,151 miles, 1,852 km), and "significantly" increasing the maximum speed.

It might look like a kid's bath toy in the storm tests, but this is not a small vessel. It weighs some 40 metric tonnes fully loaded – all of which comes crashing back down into the water after smashing into a big wave. Perhaps seeing this shot with some people on board will put things in context.

With people on board, this 66-footer starts looking its size
Safehaven Marine

Either way, this kind of work produces some absolutely spectacular images. Check out this 'greatest hits' style video from Safehaven's decades of storm-condition testing:

It sure looks like an absolutely epic experience to go through, although not one I'd be putting my hand up for personally – and I'm sure owners are delighted to receive some of these images with the boats. Jump into the gallery or click on the image below to check out some of our favorites!

This one reminds me of Kramer's hair
Safehaven Marine

Source: Safehaven Marine

View gallery - 18 images
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Flipboard
  • LinkedIn
6 comments
Smokey_Bear
I couldn't even tell it's a hydrofoil, I love hydrofoils, but at slow speeds, they offer no benefit.
JohnH
They could make a fortune in taking out people in rough weather. Just make sure you have your paper bag handy.
guzmanchinky
Mental. Amazing. I want one.
Captain Danger
Stomachs of Iron!
Nobody
Put that boat on the Great Lakes if you want a real test during a winter storm. For some reason the waves there like to stack up so that the frequency is more of a continuous pounding rather than intermittent big ones. The biggest waves might not be quite as large as the ocean but the constant rapid pounding by the lake waves won't be soon forgotten. After spending years on the ocean and Great Lakes, I think there must be an infinite number of different wave forms.
Brian M
Not sure if the article is about good boat design or amazing photos - probably both!

PS
'So, out they head into the treacherous entrance to Cork Harbour – the world's second-largest natural harbor behind Sydney,'

Some might dispute that, the second largest is usually taken as being Poole harbour on the South Coast of England (might depend on how you define it!) , but Poole (thankfully for the local boating community) doesn't have the strong ebb and shoaling waters to produce those very spectacular waves outside Cork harbour